The objectives of this study are to develop and apply a method for assessing the adequacy of health manpower supply. The proposed methodology is based upon the premise that adequacy should be assessed in terms of the incremental contribution to improved health associated with an increase in manpower supply. This incremental contribution, or marginal product, will be conputed from the parameters of statistical relationships between a number of health indicators (various mortality rates) and four sets of factors thought to influence health: medical care, life-style or behavior, environment, and genetics or heredity. The resultant criterion for identifying health manpower shortage areas and assessing health manpower supply is shown to take into account both other medical care resources, current values of the health indicator, and the other factors which influence health. Three alternative types of mortality rates (age-sex-race specific, age adjusted by race and sex, and a sample of "preventable or postponable" cause-specific mortality by race and sex) will be used in the statistical relationships in order to explore the method's sensitivity in terms of changes in the ranking of health manpower shortage areas and implications for manpower requirements and distribution. The implications of alternative definitions of adequacy will also be investigated. The statistical relationships will be estimated by standard, multivariate regression techniques using secondary data from several sources, including the U.S. Vital Statistics, the Public Use Files of the 1970 Census, and the Area Resource File. The unit of analysis will be the county group (as defined by the Bureau of the Census). This type of area is a better approximation to the Health Systems Area than the individual county, SMSA, or state unit of analysis. Data will refer primarily to the year 1970.